10 natural ways to help your dog get rid of Lipomas
What are Lipomas?
Lipomas are benign fatty tumors that develop under the skin. They are usually nonpainful, soft, round or oval, and moveable. The chest and abdomen are the most common locations for subcutaneous lipomas to form.
What causes Lipomas?
Conventional veterinary medicine considers lipomas idiopathic. Which means they don’t know the cause of them. What veterinarians do know is that lipomas occur more often in older dogs, neutered dogs, overweight dogs, and especially in certain breeds such as Labrador Retrievers, Beagles, German Shorthaired Pointers, English Springer Spaniels, Doberman Pinschers, Miniature Schnauzers, American Cocker Spaniels, Weimaraners, and Dachshunds.
How are Lipomas Treated?
Conventional veterinary medicine routinely surgically removes lipomas especially when they are large or in locations that can affect mobility such as the armpit or groin. A needle biopsy is sometimes performed first to confirm the diagnosis of a lipoma and rule out other more serious tumors that can mimic lipomas such as mast cell tumors and sarcomas.
A Holistic spin on Lipomas.
Holistic veterinary medicine embraces modern epigenetic theory – that lifestyle and environment can modify how your genes are expressed. Genetic issues can be suppressed or expressed depending on what sort of life you live and how you handle what life throws at you. This applies to our pets, too.
In Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM), Qi (energy) deficiency is a consistent underlying pattern in pets with lipomas. Qi deficiency is caused by epigenetic factors such as poor diet, over work, chronic stress, and toxins such as insecticides and pharmaceuticals.
In TCVM, lipomas are considered Phlegm nodules secondary to Spleen Qi deficiency. The Chinese Spleen is associated with digestion and is the source of Qi and Blood. When the Chinese Spleen is weak, it is unable to adequately produce Qi and Blood, and instead, produces Dampness, an unusable fluid. Dampness accumulates in the body and transforms into Phlegm, frequently showing up as lipomas.
Because the Chinese Spleen is in charge of digestion, species inappropriate diets play a huge role in lipoma formation and all tumor development. Heat processed foods, such as kibble and canned dog food, cause excessive free radical formation and produce Advanced Glycation End Products that have been linked to inflammation and chronic disease. Inflammation weakens the Chinese Spleen (digestion) and produces a biological terrain (internal environment) where lipomas and other cancers can develop.
Another holistic theory is that lipomas are benign storage areas for toxins. It is thought that the body pushes environmental toxins (vaccines, pesticides, chemicals) out and accumulates them within lipomas where they cannot harm the body.
10 natural ways to help a dog diagnosed with Lipomas.
Feed a balanced, real food diet.
Make sure your dog gets adequate exercise.
Help your dog maintain a healthy weight.
Minimize your dog’s exposure to household chemicals, pesticides, herbicides and drugs.
Add medicinal mushrooms such as Turkey Tail mushrooms.
Give probiotics.
Give Omega 3 Fatty Acids.
Choose anti-tumor herbs such as Violet, Turmeric, Chickweed, Prunella, and Figwort with the help of a veterinary herbalist.
Consider acupuncture treatments by a certified veterinary acupuncturist.
Consider chiropractic adjustments by a certified veterinary chiropractor.
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